No one has ever been pressured to make donations?
I beg to differ. I have heard numerous "deficits" announced from the Grand Boasting Session, always on Sunday afternoon, along with a guilt trip to induce people to do "the right thing" and donate even more. And, with a growing number of these things accepting credit cards, soon there will be "no excuse--if you don't have the cash, just max out your credit card to donate".
I have also had those pledge forms shoved in my face. They had a Kingdumb Hell build, and needed the money for it. They handed out one pledge form (per publisher) early in the planning, and we were to write down how much we were willing to donate on that form. They used several out of context scriptures implying that we needed to be generous. Once we optimistically wrote down that number, we would be told in no uncertain terms that it was a promise to Jehovah, and that it was a horrible offense to back out on it by not donating that much each and every month, no matter what.
Several years passed, and it was right before the new Kingdumb Hell build. And they handed out Round 2 of pledge forms, implying that we really needed to give our all in this round. I "forgot" to bring my form in, filled out (they were unrealistically expecting something on the order of $200 or more a month on a project I would get negative value out of). So, at the book study, they shoved another pledge form in my face and just about demanded I fill it out with the hounders watching me (so they could claim I could give more, no matter how much I put down). To get out of donating my whole paycheck, I had to tell them that, since I was supposed to be voluntarily donating, anything I put down on that slip while they were watching me like that would not count and would be involuntary. I brought the slip home and missed the next few boasting sessions--had I not missed them, I know I would have had to donate (and, when I did go, I went to the other side for about 2 weeks and skipped the book studies for a month so I could get out of getting yet another slip handed to me, and being physically forced to donate everything I made.
Then, I have seen many a washtowel article telling us that, if we stint or give grudgingly, that was "tantamount to robbing Jehovah" (and they used "more than Jehovah can bear" as the definition of "tantamount"). How many other washtowel articles ranting about donating more money have there been in the intervening years--Kingdumb Misery inserts threatening that we would limit how far we could spread the cancer if we don't donate more, instructions on donating your insurance policies and inheritances to the Washtowel Slaveholdery, and even donations by credit card. Each time, they imply that, unless we are emptying our bank accounts, we are murdering people in places like Nigeria (where the cancer is growing so fast that I think they need some apostatherapy).
No pressure. You will get destroyed unless you give everything to them. You are murdering people by not donating everything. It is more than God can bear if you don't donate everything. You can now max out your credit card to donate more. The Kingdumb Hell will need to run by flashlight if you don't donate everything. But, no pressure.
